For centuries, artists have employed tools to steady their hands and to assist in the drawing of lines on paintings and the like. A favored tool has been the mahl, also known as a maul or mahlstick. The typical mahl is a stick or dowel with padding on one end that the artist holds against the surface on which he or she is working. The artist then can rest his or her other hand on the mahl to steady the hand and/or to draw straighter lines. Clearly, this arrangement can be inconvenient since both hands are occupied with the traditional arrangement. Most artists put up with this inconvenience because the mahl itself is so simple to make and use. However, there have been attempts to provide an improved mahl.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,133 to Parshall discloses a mahl stick holder that employs a series of notches in a vertical member to support one end of the mahl while the other end of the mahl is held by the artist's free hand. While moving the mahl off the work surface, this still requires that the artist hold the mahl.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,088,290 to Novello discloses a telescoping mahl that can be mounted across the canvas supported by the uprights of the frame. Alternatively, the mahl can be mounted vertically across the canvas supported by the top and bottom frame members, or can hang from the top member with the free end of the mahl resting on the work surface. The extent of telescopy and the position relative to the frame rail are adjusted with knobs on the mahl that would be difficult to operate with one hand, and in some positions, the artist must still hold the mahl.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,006 to Karlin discloses a steadying device in which a first mahl is supported by posts in clamps on the uprights of the canvas frame, while a second mahl is supported by the first mahl and a third post in a clamp on the top member of the canvas frame. The mahls are attached to the posts and to each other with elastic members, such as rubber bands, to allow adjustment relative to the canvas and each other. The clamps must be adjusted with two hands and the mahl must be slid through the elastics to be adjusted.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,198 to Hoyt discloses a mahl support in which the mahl has plastic end caps and a hook at one end. The hook is inserted into an eyelet in a bar on the top of the canvas frame and the free end of the mahl is held by the artist's free hand. This is hardly an improvement on the traditional mahl in that the artist must hold the mahl with one hand while working with the other hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,883 to Amirian discloses an artist tool in which a bar rests atop the canvas frame and slidably and pivotably supports a mahl. The mahl can be slid and pivoted to allow the painting hand to be supported anywhere on the canvas. However, the adjustment requires two hands and the resulting support is not terribly secure.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,193,772, and 4,717,109 to Johnston disclose a hand and brush guide for adjustable mahl in the form of a beam, ends of the beam being mounted in carriages. A hand support slides on the beam along the longitudinal axis of the beam, while the carriages allow the beam to be adjusted along the transverse axis of the beam. The carriages are supported at the edges of the work space by rods held on held on the canvas frame with clamps and can include counterweights to facilitate movement of the beam up and down the canvas. This is the most complicated of the devices mentioned here and is quite large and cumbersome. Adjustment of the beam requires two hands, and learning how to use the device itself could be a challenge. The device is very likely to be expensive to manufacture and to purchase.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,772 to Weber discloses an artist tool that supports a double-mahl-like hand rest for adjustment in a plane parallel to the work surface and, to some extent, skew to the work surface. The hand rest is supported at one end by a swing clamp mounted on the canvas frame. The clamp requires adjustment with two hands.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,791 to Givonett discloses a hand rest in which a pivoting support attaches to an easel leg or other support structure and holds an end of a mahl. The mahl extends over the work space and can be adjusted by pivoting the mahl about the pivoting support. The unsupported end of the mahl is a traditional padded mahl tip that can rest on the work surface while in use. This arrangement provides a wide range of adjustment, but is very cumbersome, complicated, and expensive. Additionally, the use of the device is somewhat involved, requiring two hands to adjust the position of the mahl.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,565,059 to Falconer discloses a hand rest that provides a vertical bar with pegs in it on which one end of a mahl can rest. The other end of the mahl is supposed to be rest on the easel tray or be held by the artist in his or her free hand. While this is somewhat of an improvement over the traditional mahl, the artist still must hold the mahl or take up space in and block access to the easel tray.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,691,972 to Oliver discloses an adjustable hand rest that uses two bars, one on either side of a canvas frame, to support brackets that hold a mahl. The brackets can slide up and down the bars to allow adjustment of the mahl's height and angle. One of the brackets has an open notch in which the mahl rests, while the other has an opening into which the end of the mahl is inserted. While this is fairly useful, it is quite complicated, cumbersome, and likely to be expensive to manufacture and purchase. Additionally, use of the Oliver device is involved, requiring two hands to adjust each vertical support.
What none of the prior art have tried, and what embodiments disclose herein propose, is to provide a step-wise vertical adjustment and support on both ends of the mahl that can be operated with one hand. Embodiments employ two vertical members that include spaced-apart supports on which ends of the mahl can rest. For example, pegs can be used in the vertical members, allowing the artist to place the mahl horizontally at a position of his or her choosing simply by lifting the mahl with a free hand and placing the mahl on the appropriate pegs. Further, embodiments allow artists to place the mahl at an angle by putting one end of the mahl on a higher peg than the other end of the mahl. The vertical members can be part of a frame with top and bottom rails extending between the vertical members. The bottom member can act as a support in embodiments, resting on the easel tray.
Embodiments additionally comprise a vertical member, such as a second mahl, that preferably hangs down from a top horizontal rail and rests on the first mahl. Additionally, the vertical mahl is preferably slidable along the top rail to allow adjustment of the point of intersection between the first and second mahl. Thus, an artist can place the first mahl at a desired vertical location and, if the artist desires additional assistance, can hang the second mahl from the top rail, sliding it to its desired location. In embodiments including the sliding vertical second mahl, the top rail preferably includes front and rear members, the ends of which are mounted on the fronts and backs of the tops of the vertical members, creating a gap between the front and rear top rail members. The vertical mahl then includes a slide sized to fit in the gap so that pivoting is substantially eliminated.
Embodiments thus disclose a mahl support that can be used and adjusted with one hand, eliminating the need for the artist to hold the mahl or to lay down a work tool to adjust the position of the mahl in the support. Embodiments further provide a vertical mahl that can be used and adjusted with one hand, again eliminating the need for the artist to hold the mahl or to lay down a work tool to adjust the position of the vertical mahl.